


Something Better

by MidgetBanana



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Settings, Crack, I Don't Even Know, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-01-20 12:09:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1509944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidgetBanana/pseuds/MidgetBanana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During their hopeless attempt to find a way to reverse Metatron's spell, Winchesters receive an unexpected help. Dean is sent to an Alternate Universe where things are abit bizarre, but in a good way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a prologue to the main work,
> 
> Abel won't be relevant to the story line, i just needed a supernatually powerful character with a little gabe personality to get things going.
> 
> enjoy ^.^

Doorbell of the bunker had this really annoying persistent tone. Especially if it was 7:37 in the morning and Dean Winchester was sleeping, and planning to keep sleeping, for another six hours.

No yawning or stretching, he jumped off to his feet and strolled to the stairs. His stupid fucking brother couldn’t find another time to forget his keys. And the mark in his arm was itching awfully too. Who the fuck would go out seven in the morning anyways? Fucking _seven!_

He opened the door in a rash movement, ready to give his bro the deathliest stare he could muster then go the fuck to sleep.

If only he’d be so lucky.

Standing before him was a young man, at his twenties, who was _not_ his brother. He had greasy dark brown hair messily falling on his forehead, tugged behind his ears. He was wearing torn cargo pants packed into the ragged leather boots and his t-shirt was either brown or too distressed black. He had a rather large trekking backpack strapped over his few sizes too big military vest. The man overall looked too clean to be homeless and too ragged to be anything else.

He looked equally surprised to see Dean, he cocked a brow and slowly spoke “You… are not Cain.”

Before he had a chance to explain anything however, Dean had reached to the gun standing by the door and was pointing it to his nose. The man threw his arms up but looked hardly shocked

“Nice pout” he joked then suddenly his gaze was caught by the Mark of Cain left bare on Dean’s arm “Where’s Cain?”

Dean kept his stance. Who the fuck was this mysterious creepy man and why was he acting like _Dean_ was the one who owed him an explanation. “Who’s asking?”

“His brother.”

Well, _shit._

“I’m Abel.” _Abel, really_. He could’ve been anybody with the knowledge of Dean possessing the Mark. It would be fair to say that after the issue with Ezekiel, or Gadrael, Dean was having trust issues. “Yeah, right. And I’m the queen of England?”

“I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you are not my brother. Why do you carry his mark?”

Dean was tired, hangover and the mark really was throbbing like a bitch so he was more than happy when his sleepy brother came and took over the situation.

…

They had led the man to the Dungeons but he didn’t seem to get effected by any material an angel or a demon would. He wasn’t very happy with the treatment and he voiced various complaints along the process but other than that, no apparent powers or mojo. He was clean.

“Are you satisfied yet?” he groaned “Now who are you and why do you have his mark?”

Even if he was fraud, they got him under the chains…

“I am Dean Winchester and this is my brother Sam.”

“Ooooh, the Winchesters.” He smirked “Nice genes.” and eyed them from head to toe.

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly and continued “We met Cain once, I don’t know where he is right now. He gave me the mark so I can kill Abaddon.”

“But you are not a demon.” He pointed out.

“Yeah?”

He opened and closed his lips few times then simply said “Nothing…”

“Alright precious, so why’re you here?”

He tilted his head “…You called me?”

“I must’ve drunk dialled.”

“Oh and you do that a lot, don’t you.”

“Well I—”

Sam fake coughed to get back to the matter at hand “Look, Abel. We didn’t call you.”

“I don’t know, man. I was chilling in my own personal heaven then I received a distress call kinda thing from the Mark, either you or your arm needs my help.”

“The mark bat-signalled you?”

“Yeah call it whatever you want, so, how may I be of service?” he mimicked a bow

Dean shrug and let out a frustrated sigh “You know what, I’m going to bed.”

Abel turned to the younger Winchester in confusion “Sorry, is that, like, his way of asking me to service him?”

Sam snorted and unshackled the man “Naah, he’s way too smooth. Come on, I’ll fill you in.”

 

…

 

Dean woke up, equally drowsy, four hours later. The asshole Mark was still aching and he didn’t feel least bit rested. He reluctantly pierced himself from the mattress and slid on the nearest wearable shirt he got his hands on.

Freezing water he shoved to his face didn’t really help with his dizziness either. If nothing, now he wanted to die and end this altogether. He rose to see two very familiar blue eyes staring back at him in his reflection.

“Cas?”

He was standing too close, again “Hello, Dean.”

“When did you get here?” and pressed a hand on Cas’ chest to leave a little space.

“Sam called me, he said Abel was here.”

“Yeah. So he’s really the ‘Abel’?”

“He is.” Cas confirmed and followed Dean to the living room. Their last meeting, and parting hadn’t exactly been pleasant. Cas was an angel and Dean was carrying the mark of the Zeus of the demons.

Sam and Abel was working intently on a huge book and papers scattered around the table. Abel was kind of standing too close to his brother and Sam looked completely fine with it. He didn’t even flinch when the man extended a hand around his shoulder and whispered something in his ear that made him giggle. Sam fucking _giggled_.

Dean cleared his throat abruptly “Am I interrupting something?”

“Not yet.” Abel backed but pulled his hand away from Sam “Whadup Cas? See you found your better half!” he jumped enthusiastically.

“Wait—Wait. You guys know each other?”

Abel scoffed “Everybody knows _Castiel,_ he was the hottest piece of ass up in Paradise.” He added, licking his lips “I see his meatsuit isn’t that bad either.”

“If that is flirtation, meaningless sexual intercourse with strangers got me killed last time.”

“Aww c’mon Cas, we are hardly strangers. Also, meaningless?” he raised a brow “I thought you are more of a ‘sweet tender love making’ kind of guy.”

“I didn’t fall for April.” He remarked, confused.

“Oh, you fell for _something_ alright.” Abel smiled under his breath

“So get this,” Sam cut in just in time, before the conversation got any more awkward “We’ve been working on a way to reverse Metatron’s spell. Abel came up with something.” He said and waved a piece of paper on Dean’s face.

“Is this jibber jabber suppose to mean something?” Dean eyed its contents.

Sam sighed and withdrew the paper “You remember that time Zachariah send you to that post-apocalyptic alternate reality?”

“Yeah.” _Only too well_

“This spell is like that. We can send someone to an alternative universe where the spell is reversed.”

Dean considered the idea “Okay but how do ‘that person’ get back? I mean Cas’ all outta feathers.”

“You let me worry about that Deano.” Abel patted his shoulder and leaned too close to his ear to whisper “You have a week”

And the last thing Dean felt was a hand shoving his chest hard before the darkness consumed his vision.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean woke to a very crappy voice, yet again. Still, doorbell was better than Natasha Bedingfield. This was the least of his concerns apparently, he was sent to a… fancy public bathroom? He noticed the mark wasn’t throbbing anymore, Abel’s presence might be the one causing it. But the uneasy feeling he’d been ignoring since he got it was gone too. The mark was there, but it was just another scar.

A knock brought him back to reality, or an alternate version of it… “Dean.”

It was Sam. Hearing his brother’s voice calmed him a little, this alternate universe had Sam, it was an improvement. “Look, man. I know it’s not your thing but don’t think you can get away from this by hiding in the bathroom, you made a promise.”

What thing? What promise? What?

“Dean?”

“Fuck!” he unlocked the door “Sammy, we need to talk.”

He might’ve shuttered a little at the last words but it was because of the startling appearance of the man, supposedly his brother, he was facing.

It was practically the same face, same body, but _, man,_ he really went overboard with the hair. He was teasing when he joked about braiding his hair but this Sam’s hair could be made bridal. He had tucked them in a ponytail. Sam had a pony tail. And glasses. And he looked like that metrosexual intellectual assholes from talk shows.

“Where’d you get that shir—” he observed the man and his features stiffened as the realisation sank in “You are not our Dean, are you?”

Dean shrug, it was pretty obvious “Please tell me your correct version is hiding somewhere in those stalls.”

Dean spared a glance behind him to the stalls. “Sorry.”

“Dammit.” He stood aside to make way for Dean to get out and lead him outside. Apparently they were flower shopping, and not that lame-ass rosebuds and daisies or anything either, no, they were shopping for grand bouquets with flowers that you only see in Pandora and wreaths the size of a child’s swimming pool made from Elf King’s necklaces. Sam excused themselves to the shopkeeper, who was a very tall woman with a stick up her ass, bitching about their reservation getting something and something going somewhere. Chill dude, it’s just flowers, it ain’t the Oscorp Corporation.

Soon as they walked out Sam’s phone started to ring, he sighed before answering

“Yeah, Cas?”

So Cas was there too. Shouldn’t they’ve managed to open up the Heaven gates, why was he lingering about, Dean wondered.

“Yeah, he’s here,” he said looking at Dean “I have news, you won’t like it.” Then he disappeared in the corner. Dean should’ve take it personal but he didn’t know what was going on and what this universe had in store, maybe Cas and Dean weren’t best buds, maybe Cas stole her girl, who knows? So he patiently waited until they finished discussing their wicked schemes.

“Cas’ll be here in a minute.” Sam informed him “And then you’ll explain this.”

Then he told him to wait there while he dealt with the flower lady, Dean was more than happy to oblige, that lady was mean, and not in an attractive way.

Standing at the doorway of the fancy shop, he noticed they were in a Metropol. Streets were crowding with nicely suited people running from one skyscraper to another. Buildings were decorated with neon signs covering them all and colourful lights were blinding. The sight was astonishing, everything was too grand, too detailed and it took Dean’s breath away. He’d been in cities as big as this a few times, never stayed enough to consume the surroundings. His eyes traced the writings and… NY? They were in _NY?_ He’d think that they came here for hunting, maybe they were undercover but Sam would tip him off it that were the case, right? So maybe they lived here, _he_ lived here. How awesome is that? Oh, boy, he really moved up in the world.

From the hurling crowd of god knows how many people, a very familiar voice found its way to Dean’s ear

“Hello, Dean.”

Dean turned expecting his friend inches away, whilst Castiel had left a respectable three feet between them. Well now he wasn’t expecting a warm welcome, not when he was crushing the party in this universe, but that was plain rude. Since when did Castiel left three feet distance before ‘Hello, Dean’ing?

Neither he missing a few pounds from the original Cas, nor his hair and stubble being abit longer, not even the fact that he was wearing jeans that were too tight for Winchester standards was the oddest part. No, the oddest part was that he was wearing a Led Zeppelin shirt, not any Led Zeppelin shirt, mind you, _The_ Led Zeppelin shirt, Dean’s most-treasured-possession Led Zeppelin shirt, Dean’s never-gonna-give-you-up-never-gonna-let-you-down Led Zeppelin shirt, the Led Zeppelin shirt that Dean himself hardly wore because he didn’t want it to get old.

“Oh, Cas you’re here. Good.” Sam’s voice came behind them “Let’s get going.” And threw Dean his jacket, or this universe Dean’s jacket.

“Wait.” A hand on his chest stopped him. Cas tilted his head and stared at him like he was trying to figure something out “There’s something different.”

 _Hello, I am not from this universe that’s what’s different_ “I haven’t shaved in a while” he joked instead. And reached his hand to pat him on the shoulder. A very familiar movement reoccurred then, Cas firmly grasped his arm and tilted it back to shift its clothing, revealing the mark.

_Dammit, Dean_

“Dammit, Dean.”

Sam gasped and backed a few steps before reaching for his left pocket, where he usually kept the Ruby’s knife. “Is he a demon?” he asked Cas.

Cas let go of his arm “No.”

They shared a knowing look and Sam relaxed his stance, but the next fifteen minutes walk to the car was heavy with unspoken lectures.

“So… Nice spectacles, Banner.” Dean tried to break the ice

“Yeah I got them about a month ago.”

“Couldn’t Cas fix it?”

Sam huffed “No.”

 _Oh_ “So you’re mojoless, again?” Dean teased, turning to the angel. Cas stayed silent, an act Dean took as confirmation “Then you better hold tight to that blade, cause his x-ray vision might be buggy.”

“I have my grace.”

“And..? It jams around kryptonite?”

“If I was a Kyptonian, exposure to any kind of Kyptonite would cause me severe pain, except the blue one, and that wouldn’t _jam_ my powers, it would disable them temporarily.”

It took Dean a while to process what Cas had just said, he didn’t think he’d ever get use to Cas understanding pop culture references “Don’t tell me Metatron’s reading comics.”

“What?”

“Metatron mind melded you his superman knowledge?”

“Metatron did no such thing.” Cas snapped defensively.

“Then, what? You’ve gone full-nerd?”

He didn’t look offended, he tilted his head in confusion and thought through before answering “You made me watch the movies and keep live commentary throughout them.”

“Even the Superman: Returns?”

“Especially that. You said it would increase the contrast thus clear my judgement.”

 _Good thinking_ he mentally praised his alternate self. Decided not to linger on the fact that he made Cas watch the entire series while enthusiastically calling on every DC fact he knew.

Meanwhile he was presented with the most pleasant sight of the day so far. Baby. His baby was all right, she wasn’t forgotten, she wasn’t pony tailed or pop cultured, she was the one stble spot in all variable space and time.

He reached for the keys but halfway through, he got startled by Cas reaching for the doors. _What the actual fuck?_

“Oh, hell no.” he placed a hand over Cas’ “Nobody rides baby but me.”

Cas shook his hold and pushed him back “Unless you know your way back to the flat,” he said pointing the keys to Dean’s nose “I suggest you don’t anger the driver” opened the door with _his key._ “Who might or might not throw you off to the nearest BDSM club.” He added with a smug expression.

He would ponder over the BDSM remark but how an item such rare as **The Keys to His Baby** came to Cas’ possession, Dean had to know. “First my shirt and now the baby,” He groan while walking towards the shotgun “Have you guys killed me or something.”

Sam snorted “You’ve been crashing at Cas’ for the time being.” And cut Dean’s path. They both shouted ‘dibs’ running to the door.

“No way. I’m not touching _that_ backseat with a ten foot pole.” Sam stressed the word as if it was suppose to mean something. Whatever he was implying Cas seemed to understand “Dean cleans it on daily basis.”

“But Dean’s gone today.” Sam pointed out.

…

So that’s how Dean ended up in the backseat of his precious baby. Cas started the engine, hum sweet music to his ears, and few miles of awkward silence later Dean found out why Sam wasn’t touching backseat with a ten foot pole.

He grabbed the pink pantie tugged under the driver’s seat and waved it towards the front seat.

He mused “Somebody’s been getting action.” He didn’t really observe it thoroughly, it had laces and a little ribbon on the front, which were shockingly similar to Rhonda’s but a few sizes too big for his normal liking in woman. Doesn’t matter, he thought, chubby is good sometimes. Maybe she had a killer ass.

With the sight Sam faked vomiting noises and Cas went incredibly red that Dean feared his head might explode. He snatched it off Dean’s hand and threw it out the window. Dean knew Cas was uncomfortable with women but that was a little too drastic. And unnecessary.

“So what happened?” Sam asked when they found their way sufficiently away from the crowd and traffic.

Dean decided to cut to the chase “We need the spell to reverse Metatron’s spell.”

Sam paused before asking “Kevin haven’t figured it out yet?” genuinely surprised.

Cas checked him on the rear mirror, Dean swallowed, hard. He knew it was in their universe but it was still hard to break the news.

“Their Kevin is dead.” Cas noticed.

“Damn, I’m so sorry.” Sam reached back to pat his shoulder “How?”

Dean considered lying. Somehow he felt like his post-Apocalyptic self, explaining his fuck-ups to his younger self. And he understood how the man must’ve felt. Nevertheless, he crashed this people’s happy lives uninvited and he owed them the truth.

“Gadrael did it. Per Metatron’s order.”

Sam’s jaw drop “What—Who? How? I mean why’s Gael working with Metatron?”

 _Gael? You are best buds now?_ “Since you kicked him out of your head, he’s taking it hard.” Dean tried to be sarcastic but anything concerning this subject sounded pitifully sad.

“Okay. And why did I kick him out?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because he tricked me into thinking he’s Ezekiel and possessed you against your will.”

“I’m still mad at you about that, by the way.” Sam cut in “But he cured me, right? And it’s not like Cas didn’t tell you he’s not Ezekiel.”

“He threatened to leave if Cas stayed so he never got the chance.”

Cas pulled over in a wide street with trees and coloured pavings. Dean thought they’d be of the city by now but it seems they really did lived around. Or Cas did, since he was crashing his place.

“Richardson’s parked in our spot again.” He declared blatantly showing a mini cooper few cars away from where he parked the Impala.

They passed three apartments with different shapes and colours until Cas stopped in front of a 221/B Baker street copy. The street overall gave Dean the vibes of the Sex and the City locations, even the apartment looked like something out of an American Dream kind of show set.

In the stairs Cas informed that ‘Mike’ broke the elevator and her mother was refusing to pay for it.

It all looked so unreal. Cas living in an upper mid-class apartment flat, talking about mundane everyday things like parking spots and annoying neighbours, offering help to the lady at the second floor taking out the garbage, who refused but fared them both a good day and requested green apples next time they went out for the groceries if Cas still wanted to learn how to bake a pie.

At the door Cas told them to wait while he tidied up the place. He claimed seeing plot triggers of his future life might cause some alternate universe complications hence the place needed to be spoiler-free.

He had the entire top floor, combined two flats plus terrace. Which was too big for someone like Cas to live alone, Dean thought. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was his but the believed Cas wouldn’t care about this kind of luxuries. He didn’t ask, of course, maybe Cas was living with someone, or had someone. She probably wouldn’t be around as much with Dean over. However that felt highly unlikely. Sam always referred Cas’ place, Cas this, Cas that… always singular, but Cas called ‘our’ parking spot. ‘Our’… Cas and who’s? Though before he had time to ponder over it, Cas called them in.

There was a demon’s trap drawn under the doormat and Cas pointed out that the place is entirely supernatural free, warded against nearly everything but angels and werewolves. Apparently he occasionally had an angel guest and Garth turned furry after all. Dean also noted the Man of Letters and hunter sign on the door.

The biggest surprise the day had in store for Dean was the interior of Cas’ place. It was perfect. Although it was somewhat messy, clothes, coffee mugs and other everyday items scattered all over the place, it had antics and most of the books from bunker. Dean thought the place would be big but it looked quite crowded. Swords Dean had played with was exhibited right above the huge-ass 50’ plasma TV. Seriously why the fuck would an angel of the lord require 50’ plasma TV, and not only that but also Surround system, PS3 and Xbox and is that… Wii?

Walls and tables looked oddly empty, Dean assumed the reason would be the photos taken down but they were still accessorized with posters that Dean would never, in a thousand years, associate with Castiel. Scorpions? Aerosmith?

He realised they never really discussed music with Cas, he had no idea what his preference in music would be. Well, it looked like they shared similar tastes

“Awesome place!” He exclaimed looking all around the place enthusiastically. If Cas had been living in Dean’s dream home, Dean could only imagine how his own place would look like. “Did you raid the bunker or what?”

“We emptied the bunker,” Sam said, and threw himself to the couch “decided to use it as a shelter. We take turns to keep the place well stocked.”

“Brilliant.” He sank next to his brother. Where, much to Dean’s surprise, had another occupant. Yeah, Dean Winchester travelled through time and space and alternate universes to get his ass scratched by a _cat_. The unholy beast hissed at him and scratched his arm one more time for good measure before maniacally running off to the counter while sprinting around the place. He tried to form some kind of sentence to express his surprise but apparently his shocked expression was enough. “Jefferson” Sam explained, showing the ungodly creature which had now proceeded into licking her genitals. “He has a cat? Of course he has a cat. Everything was too good to be true” and rubbed the newly forming scar on his arm “Who names a female cat Jefferson?”

“You. You named her Jefferson Starship” Cas appeared from a back room with a paper in his hand “So you’re here for the spell, right? Here are the ingredients,” he put the paper on the table and started to scribble as he spoke; “You have to perform all the tasks because your soul is the last ingredient. It’s practically a reverse spell. First you’re gonna have to forge a Cherubim Bow, then you’re going to use it on a human or angel, a union that’ll result in either of them producing a Nephilim and the last ingredient is your soul.”

“My soul? Why my soul?”

“Because, uhm…” they shared a look with Sam “You’re the Righteous Man.” Sam explained.

“So what am I gonna go robot after it’s done.” He remembered soulless Sam and it wasn’t something he’d want for himself.

“No, your soul just has to have the required aspects… I mean fulfil this tasks. It just has to be present and it will… help me get back my grace too.” Cas swallowed at the last words.

“Okay, good.” Dean leaned back “So how do I forge a Cupid bow?”

“You should ask that to a Cherubim.” He handed Dean the paper. Dean rephrased “How did I do it last time?” he tucked the offered paper to his jeans pocket “You asked a Cherubim.” Cas stated.

“Awesome, any more advice you can give on this tasks?”

“Stay alive.” Cas quoted and that strangely made Dean’s heart warm. This Dean watched Superman series with Cas, and probably was playing games and doing other ordinary things people do with their friends. They might’ve seen the Catching Fire on the cinemas and occasionally quoted lines from it. Cas understood the references because they were shared memories, not because a psycho angel imprinted stuff in his mind.

“You have what you came for.” Cas broke his chain of thought “You can go now.”

“Yeah, sorry. No can do.” He shrugged “I have one week.”

“One week!?” Cas jumped on his feet. He clenched his jaw in attempt to surpass the anger forcing to take over his features. He swallowed and hid his face in his palms. He sighed keeping his position until his breathing calmed and slowly slid his hand down. He looked at Sam, with a pained expression and shook his head “I—I can’t.” Sam nodded in anticipation and stood to pat his shoulder “It’s okay, I got this.”

With that, Cas disappeared down the hall.

That event certainly required an explanation, Dean could observe Sam’s mental dilemma as he composed the part of the story he deemed safe to share with him.

“Look… You’re getting married, in six days.”

Dean just stared at his brother blankly before the words slowly processed by his brain.

“I—Come again”

Sam sat back to his previous seat and stressed each word slowly “You are getting married. And you are staying here for the bachelor party”

Dean blinked a few times… Than would explain a lot, fancy flowers, staying at his friends’, pantie in the Impala, Sam’s remark about the backseat…

“Who’s the lady?” he was certain he wouldn’t get a name but he wanted to know what kind of woman his future betrothed would be

“I can’t tell you that.”

“C’mon, man. You have to give me something here. What got Cas’ panties in a knot.”

Sam looked down to hall before answering “He’s organising the whole thing and your fiancée is pestering him at every step.”

“Oh? Where’s she?”

“Canada.” Sam huffed.

“Canada?” this utopia was collapsing around him.

“Yeah, you live there.”

He rubbed his forehead “Okay, since she convinced me to live there I’m guessing she must be some sort of Deity.”

“She is human.” came Cas’ voice. He had washed his face and changed in to sweatpants.

“A sexy one, right?”

Cas sighed and sank to the pear chair next to the consoles, Jefferson was apparently waiting for this opportunity, soon as Cas’ ass touched the fabric, she jumped on his lap “Not particularly.” Cas answered while he slowly petted her head.

“Blond?”

“No.”

“Asian?”

“No.”

“Big tits?”

Sam laughed. Cas squint “No.”

“Is it Lisa?”

He furrowed his brows before answering “No.”

“What’s with this mysterious chick barging into my life and dragging me to Canada? Am I bewitched?”

Sam looked to Cas and then back to Dean, gave Cas a moment more before deciding on answering “You would say that you're in love. But sure, bewitched would work too.”

“Really?” Dean cocked a brow “I would say that?”

Sam snorted and checked the time “I gotta run. Cas, will you be fine? I can cancel—”

“I will be fine, you should go.”

“Go where?” Dean asked.

“He has a date.” And pointed at the clock “which he is being late to.”

“Yeah,” Sam breathed, while he hastily tried to tie his shoelaces “I’ll catch up on you tomorrow” he said and slammed the door behind.

“Wow” Dean laid on the couch and stretched his arms back to his head “To think I could’ve had all this…”

“Where did it went wrong?” Cas asked.

“I don’t know…”

“Tell me what happened after you took Sam to the hospital, I am assuming that’s what you did otherwise you wouldn’t’ve met Gael.”

“Ah…” the details of his desperation and fear filled his mind “He wasn’t getting any better so I prayed to you, I don’t know, a thousand times. I didn’t know about your mojo going and I got low… I… I prayed to any angel who’d help me and he came. He introduced himself as Ezekiel. Then we talked and you said Ezekiel can be trusted... I tricked Sam into letting him in and we got back to the bunker.”

“You got back to the bunker?”

“Yeah, you know, working on some cases until Sam was healed. That was the idea.”

“But you said you’d get me.”

“I didn’t say that. I told you to come back to bunker. When we spoke you were with another angel Hellen or something, you said you lost your grace and I told you to look out for yourself and get back to the bunker.”

“Hael.” Cas corrected “The angel’s name was Hael. So let me get this straight; you told me, who the entire garrison of furious angels were hunting for, who had no powers or chance to self-defence, who had no penny nor sense of location, who very recently had his grace stripped off and was completely oblivious in human ways to get back to the bunker on his own.”

“…Yeah, I guess. I don’t know, man, Sam was sick and…” _and what?_ Sam’s sickness had been a sufficient excuse for his conscious so far but when he put it in word it looked so petty. Sam was sick so he decided to pout and go on a dog hunt?

“If I am alive in your universe, that is a miracle. But I guess I didn’t find my way back. Otherwise you’d know about Gael from me”

“No you got stuck in a homeless shelter. We find you at April’s, you died. Gadrael bought you back.”

“April?”

“Yeah, a hot reaper chick you banged.”

His expression, which throughout the story changing from disappointment to frustration had somehow twisted into something of shock “I ‘banged’ a reaper chick. Did I—Was I—Why?”

“You didn’t tell much. Apparently you were mopping at her workplace, looking for something to eat and she bought you in…”

“That’s disgusting.” Cas sighed.

“No, really, she was hot. You know, when he wasn’t trying to kill you. You know yourself better than me, you did it, I’m sure you can come up with an explanation.”

“What I know about me leads to a disgusting explanation.”

“How so?”

“When I became human I… Had many unfamiliar desires. However oddly, in all these new human needs I found intimacy the most mandatory.”

“That would explain the orgies.”

“It is understandable that you’d associate intimacy with sexual intercourse.”

“Aww” Dean pout “Did you want to cuddle.”

His voice was calm “No, I wanted to feel… needed, as a human and not a tool. You wouldn’t understand, you always had Sam.”

“You had us.”

“From what you told me so far, I didn’t.”

“I had no choice.”

“I am not the one you should be telling your excuses. But you found me in the end, and Gael healed me.”

“Yeah we got you to the bunker. I didn’t tell you about Gadrael possessing Sam and he threatened to leave if you stayed so you didn’t get the chance.”

“You kicked me out.” Cas rolled his eyes “You know after all this tale I thought I wouldn’t be surprised but I still am. It is not your fault, I just associate you with our Dean and judge you in his standard.”

“So the phone call was the key point, from thereon everything went to shit.”

“It seems.” Cas nodded.

“What did I do right here?”

“On the phone you told me to stay wherever I am. After the accident with Hael I got lost and a stranger helped me. You found me in a Laundromat, scolded me saying that I’d ruin my suit if I washed it there.”

“You were going to wash your suit in a Laundromat?”

“Sorry, I wasn’t well educated in the subject of laundry.”

“Okay, okay, but didn’t Gadrael bitch about you.”

“He threatened to leave, I guess. You thought I was sleeping in the backseat. But he couldn’t leave even if he wanted to, he wasn’t completely healed either. I pointed that out, when he got cornered he revealed his true identity.”

“Of course he couldn’t leave.” Dean sighed “Fuck.”

“You had no idea of knowing that. I was furious at first, Gadrael was the reason God left, he was responsible for everything, but you convinced me that he deserves a second chance, ‘we fucked up big time before, we know the feeling’ you said. Breaking it to Sam was hard, of course, but it worked out well so Gael stayed with us until Sam was healed. And later helped us with the spell.”

“It all sounds very dreamy, Gadrael helped us? What about Abaddon, and Crowley, we’re having pool parties? Is Metatron joining?”

“Metatron is dead… When they heard of his treachery, he garrison killed him. We made a deal with Crowley, you convinced Cain to kill Abaddon and he promised to keep Hell’s doors closed. He’s still on business of dealing with souls but keeps a clean profile… for his standards. Cain keeps him in check.”

“Were it that easy.” Dean gritted his teeth and rubbed the mark on his arm. Cas stood up to kneel beside him -which earned him a displeased meow from Jeff- and placed his hand over the mark. For some reason, a gesture as simple as this felt very intimate and tender.

“Dean… The Mark of Cain cannot be possessed by humans” and looked up to meet Dean’s eyes “you should be very concerned.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie comes over, gives some insights about Dean's future wife.

It should’ve came as a surprise but Dean somehow knew it. He knew it from the moment Cain took his hand that this was going sideways, hard. He kept Cas’ gaze, he wanted to tell him, wanted to tell his friend everything wrong with this scenario. He wanted to share what happened with Gadrael, how he lost control, how he managed to harm an angel with his bare hands and how much he enjoyed it. Cas had seen him in his most vulnerable state, twisted and broken, in pit. Only he knew what he was capable of, only he would understand.

But the words stuck in his throat. He didn’t know how to explain, or what to explain for that matter.

Castiel gently rubbed his thumb along the lines of the mark “Don’t worry,” he said as he pulled the shirt over it “I’m sure I’ll figure something out, I’m with you now, am I not?”

Dean’s expression was answer enough “Do I wanna know?” he groaned and let go. He went to the refrigerator, returned with a couple of beers.

“You didn’t stay after that, you were hunting Metatron.” He explained as he took the bottle. “It seems like a lost cause, me running around mojoless, asking for an angel half the garrison is searching to kill and the other half to serve.”

“No, no. You are not mojoless, you sucked up another angel’s juice.”

Cas made a disgusted face “Repulsive.”

“I guess it’s better than nothing.”

“I haven’t told you then,” Cas chuckled “Using someone else’s grace is the lowest an angel can get, it is like eating poisoned scraps of somebody else. It burns out in time and it brings the possessor with it—”

“Hang on. ‘Burn’s out’ as in burns you out? Will you be fine?”

“It’s like… Living off the Unicorn blood, I’ll need more, and I’ll need them more frequently. Until it comes to a point where I won’t be able to live without them. That’s in the theory, of course. Nobody actually tried it.”

Dean groaned and threw his head back, took a huge sip and let the bottle rest between his thighs “I should find a way to get back before you wreck yourself”

Cas snorted and put his bottle down.

“What’s with you anyway, you said you got your grace back but you can’t heal a man’s sight?” Dean asked

“I have my grace, but since I am cut out from Heaven, my powers are gone… mostly. I can still smite or fly if I try too hard. But it takes a lot from me and I prefer not to.”

“The gang kicked you out anyway, huh? I figured you’d go back to heaven, do cosy family stuff.”

“Nothing is cosy with my family.” He jest “I had… reasons to stay.”

“Your loss. But I guess you can handle yourself with a gun.”

“Yeah you can say that.”

“So what are you guys doing, hunting in the city? I’m clearly cleaning up meese and mountain lions…”

Cas reached back to the bottle “We” he circled a finger between them “are not hunting anymore.”

“You kidding, we got out?” Dean nearly choked on his beer

“Not really ‘got out’ there are very few cases with demons and angels gone, locals usually manage to take care of them. We provide information or supplies if needed but we rarely go on a field job, occasionally a ghost hunt or vampire nest but that’s about it.”

Dean recalled his time with Lisa and Ben “And I’m fine with that? I don’t itch to go back?”

Cas shook his head

“So all it took was a fancy house and a homely housewife –who isn’t even blond, Asian or have a good pair of tits- and I’m sold?”

Cas looked somewhat hurt by the remark, he was probably bothered by him disrespecting his future wife or something but since they gave him nothing, as far as Dean was concerned she was just a mysterious chick he hadn’t even met yet.

“You are really happy, Dean. Otherwise I wouldn’t… support your decision. But you said this is the closest you’ll get to have a family and that you intend to keep it.”

“I’ve become a really cheesy guy, haven’t I.” he huffed

“You dropped your unresolved father issues, which allowed you to improve your personality and use the basic human method of communication called ‘talking’ or ‘chatting’ to express your feeling.” Cas spat smugly.

Dean bottoms-upped the beer, that was harsh. “That’s uncalled for.”

“Dean,” Cas sighed and finished his “I dragged your ass out of hell I know pretty much everything there is to know about you.”

He then grabbed the empty bottles and disappeared behind the counter.

They didn’t talk much for the rest of the day. Cas warmed up some left-over, he was really getting the hang of the household items, he was still clumsy and looked somewhat lost on the buttons though. Dean was proud. And he showed him to his room, which didn’t really look like anybody’s room but Dean figured Cas might’ve been too lazy to clean up his previous room so he might’ve decided to just give him another guest room. He bought over some clothes and towel if he wanted to take shower, the t-shirt was new but the plaid PJ bottom wasn’t.

The shower was pretty huge. Dean knew Cas liked the water pressure in bunker but never thought he’d go ahead and buy the biggest super-computer shower in existence. It had buttons for… thing Dean had no idea about. It had all kinds of bottles placed in no particular order to the ledge, Shower gels were at the bottom, shampoos were at top, other mystic mambo jambos were in the middle. Dean would expect Cas to be hospitable but he would be lying if he said it didn’t surprise him to see products of his preferences lying about. Cas used his shampoo too, apparently. Dean smelt it on him.

He decided to shave before shower, he called out for Cas but he was having an intense conversation with somebody over the phone so Dean moved along to shuffle through cabinets.

It was probably rude to browse through someone else’s possessions but it was Cas, what worst could he have.

Maxi pads. Cas had maxi pads, and tampons. So Dean was right, he did have a woman in his life. Good for him. He also had diapers. So the woman had a kid, good, good. He deserved a family of his own. As he got to the top shelf he came across a packet of condoms. He must’ve finally figured out how to use the angel blade. And a rather large bottle of lube, nearly empty.

He slowly closed the cabinet. And walked away to the sink. Shaving wasn’t that important. Really, he could just ask Cas about the razors tomorrow.

Just as he stripped “Dean? You called?” Cas’ shouted behind the door.

“Yeah, I was looking for razors.”

“Behind the mirror, black one is yours.” He informed.

Dean reached for the medicine cabinet, the rest of the shaving supplies were there too –and another small bottle of lube, which he ignored- . Then it hit him, and oh how he wished it didn’t. Of all the kinks and fetishes he could have, Cas choose to get pegged. He was getting pegged by a mother.

Now he didn’t want to jump into conclusions but it was kind of hard to stand aside while the conclusions slapped him in the face in the form of an almost empty giant-fucking-bottle-of-lube. The other explanation would be that Cas was a masturbation maniac and out of these two Dean choose to believe the above assumption.

Okay, so his friend liked it up the ass. Okay, it was okay. Maybe _she_ liked it up the ass. Maybe he spilled it it’s not like there’s only one reason for a bottle to be empty, right..? Maybe he should stop thinking about Cas’ sex life while shaving, yeah, he definitely should be doing that. Who cared who Cas had sex with and how he did it anyways. Dean got pegged once or twice in his time, it wasn’t that bad. Dean knew what kind of a lover Cas would be. He would be a gentle lover, a kind lover. He would play any game and act in any way that would please her partner. If she wanted him to beg, he would beg, if she wanted him to pull her hair and fuck her senseless into the mattress, he would do just that. So what if Cas liked to spread his legs for the hot mama, screamed and moaned her name as she fucked him loose.

The more he tried the force his mind elsewhere, the more images of his friend lying on the bed dripping sweat and sex filled his brain. _Great_ , that was just what he needed, getting a hard-on while thinking about how an alternate version of his friend had sex with his partner. It had been some time since he last got laid. And he didn’t really thought much about it, he wasn’t as young as he used to be. He’d forgotten how the inappropriately timed boners felt like. He wasn’t _that_ into pegging either, maybe he just discovered his new mommy fetish. Ugh, disgusting.

On the other hand, it was very fortunate that this all convo happened just before the shower.

He took shower, made short work of his erection and hopped into bed before his imagination started to produce other disturbing ideas about the subject.

Sleep came easier than it did for the past few months and when he woke, he couldn’t remember the last time he felt this rested and refreshed. No nightmares, no waking up sweaty in the middle of the night… Just good old sleep. He got on his feet, stretched his back, and gave himself a little time to think about the events of yesterday. He was sent to a utopia where everything was perfect, he still had his brother and Cas, and one other person he hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting yet. This version of him somehow got everything right and crawled his way to this life, and Dean was proud, proud to know that he had the capacity to do this. But back of his head he knew this version of him was very different from Dean in some aspects. He was a caring person, he looked out for his friends and family. His first instinct was to protect and question whilst Dean went with obeying and assholing. This version didn’t try to do any of this alone, he had Cas on his side, however useless of weak he might be, he stayed to help Dean, and he could do all that because this version had the decency to drive a few miles to get his best friend and had the balls to defend him. This Dean deserved to be happy and in peace.

He noticed the little hum coming from the living room. Cas must be awake. Walls were soundproof so he wasn’t sure what it was but soon as he opened the door the sweet tune filled the room. He followed the voice of Brian Johnson down the hall and to the living room kitchen.

He was greeted by the strangest sight. Cas, Castiel, The Angel of The Lord, The Soldier of Heaven was in his grey boxer-briefs, in front of the stove, shaking pan in one hand and air-drumming with spatula with the other.

He started singing along few notes off with Brian “ _See me ride out of the sunset~”_ he bought the spatula to his mouth and continued singing to the imaginary wooden mic _“On your colour TV screen, out for all that I can get, if you know what I mean~”_ he started head-banging and, man, it was the most spectacular view Dean had the pleasure of experiencing. He was so into it, he was dancing and hopping around the kitchen, shaking his body to the rhythm. He jumped to the chorus and shouted the lyrics. He then split the pan’s contents to two plates, still dancing. Only when he turned to get the waffles out of the maker did he notice Dean, and it was almost the end of the song. He stilled his posture “How long have you been standing there?”

“Not long enough.” Dean answered with a smile and he swore Cas blushed then, but he couldn’t be sure with his morning vision being a little blurry.

Cas had the anti-possession tattoo at the same place as Winchesters, right above his chest. He also had the angel warding spell where he had it back in Dean’s universe. But the biggest one was on his back, a pair of wings. Dean had never found wing tattoos appealing but whoever made it knew what he was doing, they were spreading to his arm, making a movement like motion whenever he moved. Dean saw it under the shirt yesterday but forgot to mention it. He didn’t think an ex-angel would actually tattoo wings to his back. How cliché is that?

“Seriously? Wings?”

“I was drunk,” he gestured him to take seat “You made me do it.”

“I’m bad influence.”

Cas put the plate of bacons, eggs and waffle in front of him, and started going through the counters, searching for something. “People have been telling me that for six years now.” He said.

There was another thing that got Dean’s attention on his friend’s body, hickeys. _All over his body_. Bite marks on his shoulders that tattoos failed to cover, purple and red spots around his nipples, collarbones, back on his shoulder blades and with the rest of them concentrated on the pelvis area. Somebody really worshipped those hipbones thoroughly.

He noticed he was staring when Cas pulled a shirt over. Dean blinked a few times get his chain of thoughts back. He didn’t mean to make him feel uncomfortable but he couldn’t stop thinking if it was normal for them; Cas walking around with his boxers, dancing and making bacon’n’eggs... Dean wan’t really surprised about him still not grasping the concept of boundaries, it kind of added to his personality.

“Nice ink though, could’ve gone so much worse.”

Cas finally found what he was looking for, a jar of cherry jam and put it alongside Dean’s plate “You like it, you say it looks like it’s moving when I do.”

 _Yeah_ he thought that but it wasn’t something he’d ever voice out to Cas. Though in normal circumstances he wouldn’t convince him to get a wing tattoo either. He imagined it, once or twice, he thought how funny it would be for an angel to get a wing tattoo, although he was quite sure Cas would reply with something like his wings not being feathery or physically manifestable. And now he didn’t have them anymore so it would be insulting to talk about something like that.

He dug into his breakfast. It was good, very good, better than anything he had for a while and better than anything he managed to bake in bunker

“Wow, Cas. Didn’t know you had it in you” he showed the plate “Maybe I should’ve taken you for a wife.” He joked while he struggled to swallow the egg full. Cas handed him a mug of coffee, and Dean saw that flash of redness over his cheeks again.

“You wish you were that lucky.” He huffed.

Five sugar cubes and two spoons of milk, that’s how he liked his coffee. And the coffee he just had the pleasure of tasting had that specifications, exactly. How long had he been staying with Cas? Or did he bitch about it before? Not to look a gift horse in the mouth but that was such a minor detail in his life that he never thought anyone would take time to memorise it.

“So… uhm…” he tried to change the subject, both in the conversation and in his mind “Anyone special on your side?”

Cas shrugged, scratched his neck “No.”

“C’mon Cas,” he raised a brow, pointed a finger and circled his neck area. Cas looked away and swallowed before answering “…I had sex”

“Damn right you had sex, you’ve been having sex for a while, by the looks of them”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Cas cut off. Something was very fishy. Sure knew they were hiding things from him to avoid spoilers but this knowledge wasn’t making him any less curious

Dean opened his mouth to protest but was silenced by the doorbell. Cas welcomed that opportunity to escape.

From the stairs of the apartment Dean heard a voice he didn’t notice he missed.

“Dean!” Charlie shouted sprinting towards the elder Winchester. “Sorry, Cas. I spoke with Sam, I had to see.” she hugged him tightly, an embrace Dean returned willingly.

“Dude, this is Doctor Who material.” She continued while she observed and squished Dean’s face.

“Thank god,” Dean said when Charlie finally let go “Someone who can give me insights of my wife”

“I ain’t work for free, Winchester. You give me something, then we’ll see.”

…

“Dorothy? I ran off to the Land of Oz with _The Dorothy_?”

“Yeah, yeah. Now tell me, I heard she has no tits…”

“Tits?” She laughed “No she has no tits, but she has an ass to die for.”

“No.” Cas cut in, “She has an average rear.”

“Average?” Charlie questioned, then turned to Dean “Don’t listen to him. She has a perfect ass, not too large, but round and smooth as butter…”

“Smooth as—” Cas repeated a little annoyed “How do you know what her ass looks like?”

“How do _you_?” Charlie teased. “Okay, okay.” Dean laughed “Nice ass, anything else?”

“Hipbones.” Charlie added.

“Hipbones?” Cas interfered, surprised.

“Yeah, dumbass. Hipbones.”

“They are just hipbones, I don’t see how that can be a positive aspect”

“I have a message right here,” she waved her phone “Dean claiming he wants to eat them like a leviathan. Among other things…”

Cas rubbed his forehead “He _did not_ text you that.” he groaned.

“Oh he did, I’ll show you later.” She winked “Anything else?” she asked, turning back to Dean.

“I don’t know, what does she like? Any skills?”

“Well…” she eyed Cas before speaking “Few months back Nat taught her pole dancing when we were drunk.”

She grinned and added “I hear you’re pretty pleased with the result.”

“Nat? Pole dancing?”

“Yeah, Natalie, my girlfriend. She’s a stripper.” She bragged “And now yours’ too. Shared knowledge.”

“Damn.” Dean grinned widely “Okay, skills; striptease. Moving to the other question.”

“Uhm…” she furrowed her brows “She is a very kind and lovely person, she always tries to fix things but… Ahh… she can get really scary when she’s angry. Like Banner kind of scary. And in the field, _when_ she is in the field, she kicks ass. But I think she’s more of a tactician, really, she’s brilliant.”

“Charlie’s overestimating.” Cas interrupted.

“What,” Dean crossed his arms “You don’t think my wife-to-be is smart and kind?”

Cas gulped and looked at Charlie like he was asking for help “I think he just wants to say she’s like any other human, if you heard yourself talk about her you’d think she’s an angel.” She explained.

“From what I know about angels, that can’t be a good thing.”

“C’mon,” Charlie lightly punches his shoulder “don’t be mean, you met some good ones along the way.”

 _True_ , Dean thought. There had been Anna, who had ended up in the dark side. But which of them haven’t, right? And who could blame her, she herself had said death was preferable to the bible camps upstairs. Then there had been Gabriel, yeah he had killed him dozens of times but ended up dying for their cause, even given them the key information to lock Lucifer up. Balthazar had helped them too, there had also been that Samadriel boy, he had seemed harmless. And of course, Castiel;

 _‘I was getting too close to the humans in my charge_ _. You._ _They feel I've begun to express emotions. The doorways to doubt...’_

It had been his misfortune to meet the Winchesters

_‘I killed two angels this week. My brothers. I'm hunted. I rebelled and I did it -- all of it -- for you... You and your brother destroyed the world. And I lost everything -- for nothing... ‘_

But overall Dean thought he changed for the best. It was selfish of him but he was aware that if it had been any other angel, they’d be dead by now, if not worse.

 _‘I'm doing this for you_ , _Dean_ , _I'm_ _doing this_ _because of you...’_

Yeah, he met some good ones along the way.

 

“Okay, give me something from her face, anything, mole, freckle...”

“No, that’s enough insight” Cas got up “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Oh, shit.”

“Go, I’m sure Dean will be here when you get back. With any luck, the original one”

He showed Charlie to the door. They exchanged few words about that months Halo night, she told him to don’t fret over the Dean issue, that they’ll figure something out and kissed him goodbye. Just before crossing the threshold she whispered to Dean “pink lips.” and the door closed.

So in a week he’d be back to his own universe, where Charlie was gone and Kevin was dead. Where Cas became another kind of junkie and Gadrael was working with Metatron who was trying to bring life to some kind of bible fanfiction. But he had the counter spell, he could still fix this. And when he did, he was going to meet a woman he’ll fall for, who wasn’t Asian or blond, didn’t have big tits, but had ‘an ass to die for’ and super sexy hipbones and pink lips. He was going to move to Canada, no more supernatural bullshit and hunting trips. He was going to bake pancakes all day long and go for Halo nights and watch stupid action films with his friends.

Still he felt something was extremely off with this universe. He was missing some crucial information, and that include the spell. It required his soul, why _his_? There had to be a catch. He thought perhaps leaving the States was catch enough.

“So.. uhm.. Sam shouldn’t be here for at least few more hours.” Cas announced “Would you like to do... something?”

“What do you have in mind?” and he swore to god he didn’t’ intend it to came out as dirty as it did

For the briefest second a grin flashed in Cas’ face, then it was gone. Cas’ expression turned into his usual intelligible plainness.

“Movies?”

Cas let him choose the movie, there weren’t anything he found interesting that he haven’t watched yet so he choose a movie with the stupidest name, eternal mind of sunshine or something. Cas warned him that he found it ‘extremely boring’ but he thought, what the hell.

So the man met this blue haired chick who was orange haired before, and they ran around the man’s memories and then… stuff happened…his world collapsed…something sentimental….


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i splitted this chapter into two because it ended up being longer than i anticipated. there are 3 more chapters left, i don't know when will i finish them. sorry for the extended delay. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading. i appreciate your comments, don't hold back

Sam’s voice brought him back to consciousness, followed by Cas’

“I can’t postpone, Sam, my brothers and sisters will be there, they can’t stay. You know that.”

Dean shifted and crooked his head to look over the couch. He must’ve fallen asleep. Sam and Cas were at the kitchen. Dean didn’t want to eavesdrop but they weren’t exactly keeping it down. His little motion went unnoticed as they continued their conversation. This could be his chance to hear something important so he laid back and closed his eyes

“I know Cas, I’m trying… Gael said he can’t pinpoint the exact universe he came from. He can drop him to the wrong place—”

“No, no. We can’t do that.” Cas sighed “Dammit. Why now?”

“Yeah, but that’s just our luck, you know”

“Yeah. You know, he didn’t even looked for me. He just left me to die in the streets.”

Sam snorted “You know he’s not your Dean, right?”

Your Dean? ‘Your Dean’ as in your Dean or _your_ Dean?

“Of course but it still makes me mad that in some alternate reality I endured all that, it’s stupid, I’m sure he felt hopeless and desperate…”

“I’m sure he did, you and I both know there’s no way he’d let you go.”

“I’m not sure. Some aspects of our relationship is definitely different in his universe.”

“Maybe not that different, Metatron’s spell worked after all”

There were silence for a second where Dean heard some dishes rattling

“He should stay at your place, I can’t hide it.”

“Everybody in my apartment knows him, Mirah’s girl knows him, it won’t work out. Just bear with it for few more days, until we find a solution.”

“We shouldn’t’ve told him about the wedding.”

“Oh?” Sam chuckled “And how were we suppose to explain the flowers, staying with you and the ‘bridezilla’?”

“I am not a bride/dinosaur hybrid.”

Sentence echoed in Dean’s mind. He circled around the words over and over again to see if he misunderstood. If he missed something. ‘I am not a bridezilla’ Bridezilla… It was used for brides, right? Brides… People who marry. Dean was pretty sure it wasn’t used for people whose friends get marry, no, he was quite certain

“Oh, yeah?”

“I am nervous and I guess that’s the natural reaction for having your fiancée disappear just few days before the wedding to be replaced by… this.”

It took every atom constructing Dean’s body to not to blurt out the biggest _what the fuck._ Was this a sick joke? Was he been played with? Was that the part where the cameras come out and everybody laugh airing Dean’s expression?

But nothing happened, Sam continued the discussion “Aw, he’s not that bad. You know, the torn distressed aura. Demon-y.”

“If you’d seen him in Purgatory, you’d rethink your assessment.”

“Cas,” Sam’s voice was almost a plea now “it’ll be fine, I’m sure Dean is alright… We’ll find a way to bring him back. Don’t beat yourself over it.”

Sounds of ruffling of clothes Dean could only assume they were hugging

“I know what you need,” Sam said “Let’s go out, get some air and burgers.”

Cas’ protest shushed by the younger Winchester. They mingled around the flat, the footsteps rose and disappeared down the hall a few times and finally with the sound of keys rattling and the shut of the door left it’s place to complete and utter silence.

Dean’s eyes shot open but only after few minutes he managed to muster enough brain juice to order his body around. He rose to his feet. His palms were sweaty and his head was hurting. What kind of a bizarre fucked-up universe Abel send him to? Was this his doing? Nothing made sense…

Though exactly everything did. Every single thing made perfect sense. The flower shop, Led Zeppelin shirt, Cas’ reaction to the pink pantie -with a little too loose crouch area, Dean recalled-, _I’m not touching that backseat with a ten foot pole,_ _our_ parking spot… The fucking house practically reeked of Dean. Thinking about it now, he should’ve seen this coming. Every fucking sign pointed to that direction. How could he be so stupid? A wife in Canada? Crashing at Cas’? Yeah he was crashing at Cas’, apparently for the entire past year. In his bed, more likely.

He ran down the hall to Cas’ room, it was locked but it took him little more than a minute to pick.

The room was dark, with thick curtains reaching to the floor holding out the day light, it was few seconds before Dean’s eyes adjusted enough to find the light switch. The room wasn’t particularly big, or it might be too crowded like the rest of the flat. It was very messy, bed was unmade and half the wardrobe was on the floor and over the desk. The desk chair was occupied with Jeff, who was giving the trespasser the cold shoulder since he accidentally sat on her. The weapon rack from his room in bunker was placed here, right above the desk. Nothing particularly worthy was on the desk, just a mess of books and papers, empty cereal bowls and dishes and a table lamp. Dean’s eye caught a framed photo, hidden behind a pile of books. He immediately recognised the photo, it was the one he burned, the one with Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Cas, Sammy and him. Looking at it now, it really did resembled a family photo, with everyone being there but none of them actually wanting to be. Filled him with a bittersweet warmth. Half of them was dead. He reached for the top drawer. From the rattle, Dean could tell it was where the other frames were kept. He took out the drawer and brought it to the bed–a king size bed- to rest on his lap while he went through its contents.

There were a picture of him chasing his soaked brother around the Impala with hose in his hand, a one with Gadrael holding a cake in his hands with only one candle and looking very terrified, a one with the cake thrown on Cas’ face with Gadrael running towards his brother and Sam laughing his ass off, an awkward Christmas photo with Sam, Dean, Cas, Gadrael, Kevin, Mrs Tran(so Crowley let her go, after all), Charlie, a pregnant woman Dean assumed as Gadrael’s partner and another very hot girl who could only be Natalie standing in front of a Christmas tree. Cas was wearing a knitted Christmas sweater and a santa hat. He looked cute, he had the most confused expression on his face, but he looked cute. Sam was wearing antlers and him and Natalie were the only ones who looked like they had been enjoying themselves. There were few photos of him and Cas, sometimes holding hands, sometimes not even being close in various locations of USA. Some taken by Dean, some by strangers. There was a framed picture which caused Dean to gasp at sight. He remembered that photo, he never thought he’d see it again. A warm spring morning, John was tending the barbecue with Dean oh his shoulders, in back, near the table were Mary holding new-born Sammy and shouting something towards their direction. It was such a simple photo, not particularly well taken, nor carefully adjusted. It was just them, Winchesters. Dean traced a finger over the figure of his mother. He must’ve told Cas about this photo. Shit. What else had he told him? (Evidently he had let his time with Rhonda slip.)

 

_Angels are watching over you_

One in particular, apparently had been doing just that.

He got up to place the drawer back, the middle one had photo albums containing few other old and forgotten Winchester photos and some new ones with Sam and Cas. Bottom drawer was filled with useless junk… and Dean’s phone.

So he was still using the same phone, huh? And same password. He browsed the recent chats, one with his brother, urging him to be at the flower store in time, him being a bitch about it. A very short discussion with Gadrael who couldn’t reach Sam through phone, and one with someone called ‘The Queen’ Dean presumed to be Charlie because the last conversation were revolving around Cas’ hipbones. ‘There is a thin line between carnally worshipping one’s hipbones and being a fucking Leviathan and I’m not sure which side I’m on’ Dean had texted and Charlie had replied ‘Calm yo tits Doc. Lecter’ and the last two messages were ‘Seriously man, I’ve never been this turned on by a neck… I should prepare dinner’ and ‘Yeah you should, but not ‘people’ dinner’. A one with Cas, telling him he doesn’t see the point of decorating a ceremony with the reproductive organ of plants. And him explaining the visual appeal of the reproductive organ of plants. Going a little older, were conversations of I’m-coming-home-do-you-need-anythings and I-broke-the-sinks, one or two Steven’s-looking-for-dragon-wings and Claire-needs-help-ganking-the-witch’s.

‘There is a beautiful cloud formation.’ Cas had texted, Dean had asked him for pics and he had sent a photo of his forehead so Dean explained him how to change the camera and in the end the clouds had dissolved. There were another conversation about the photo Dean had sent this time. A photo of himself standing in front of an angel poster of Victoria’s Secret, covering the models body but keeping the halo and wings visible. Cas had replied the woman’s legs were visible through his bowlegs, Dean answered that he was missing the point and Cas demanded him to explain which ended up somewhere at did-it-hurt-when-you-fell line. He thought this is how it must feel like to look back on your life and choices. He wasn’t exactly looking _back_ per se but he still had the shame of reading what he had once written. Actually he knew, if _he_ were in a relationship with a fallen angel at some point he’d use that line too, make jokes and small remarks about his wings and halos. Hell, he already had. He’d bet his soul that little feathers poking out from the wardrobe drawer wasn’t peacock either.

He browsed the phone’s gallery, it was empty… That was odd, he seemed to take pictures frequently. He struggled with the phone for a while until he realised, if he was taking pictures regularly, he’d want to stock them.

Search for the laptop was a short one, laptop being tugged under the covers right beside his ass. It wasn’t some kind of super computer, it was a regular computer and Dean would be lying if he said after the display in living room, he wasn’t least bit disappointed that it wasn’t Alienware.

He was surprised to see that he still kept the Busty Asian Beauties folder, but porn aside, the videos folder was packed. There were a wedding folder he wasn’t sure he wanted to watch, ‘Cas-Lessons’ folder and a ‘Sam’s Cam’ folder, which looked like the safest bet. He clicked the first video;

“Okay, wait. Do that again” Sam’s voice came but for few seconds there were no visual while his brother struggled to adjust the camera. A scene of the living room came to screen, Dean was lying on the peach chair and Kevin was beside Cas on the couch, Sam walked around to get their faces in sight, Dean started the movie in mute. A glowing blue cube appeared on the TV and Cas started “ _The Tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world. A human world. They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will_.”. And he kept reciting the movie until somewhere around Fury called Hawkeye down when Dean told Sam to stop shooting. Few more videos went like that and then there were this video where they were standing on the very empty version of their current flat, “So what do you think?” Dean asked opening his arms “The view is... pleasant.” Cas answered looking out the window, then Dean saw cam “This is the eleventh, man. Why’re you even..?”

“Exactly, it’s close to my place, it’s big, Cas said the view is pleasant...” he moved the camera to capture the scenery outside.

“I really don’t care.” Cas answered. Dean touched a wall -that shouldn’t have been there- “This has to go.”

“I don’t know... Maybe if you... like” Sam supposedly showed something “No, no.” Dean shook his head “This _has_ to go.”

“Okay then, you decided?” Sam asked. “Cas?” Cas was still looking out “This is the first place you stated a constructive opinion on.” He mumbled. Dean sighed “I don’t—I don’t know if it stand’s for ‘yes’”

“It’s very wide,” Cas frowned “and white...”

“I’m sure we’ll find things to fill it up.” Dean patted his shoulder. That would also explain where the distemper went. Cas seemed satisfied and nodded. That’s where the video ended.

The eighthth or ninth video got Deans attention, Dean was wearing chainmail, Charlie was his side with light armour and Cas was either a battlemage or warlock, they were obviously LARPing. Dean assumed sam was out since he was allowed to shoot. They were in some kind of a field and sitting on a circle where they took refugee under the shadow of an oak. It went on a while where Charlie and Cas argued over battle tactics, very intensely. Dean disappeared a moment then returned and dropped a flowercrown on Cas’ head in the way back to his previous seat. Cas took it in hand and observed then looked confusedly to Dean. “Herb genitals” Dean shrugged. “I can see that. Why’s it on my head?”

“Oh shut it,” Charlie snatched the crown from his hand and placed it back to his head “you look adorable. Gives you that Princess Bubblegum aura.”

“Thank you.” Cas smiled. Facing the computer screen from a life he didn’t have, in a room he didn’t own, Dean noticed how rarely he’d seen Cas smile that casually. It wasn’t similar to the Jimmy’s or, what was his name, Misha’s. It wasn’t the smile of that broken man from a broken world who found his sweet escape in the drugs either. It was shy and suppressed but more genuine than any human can muster. Dean liked that smile, he remembered the first time he saw it, sitting on a bench of a playground, it was nothing but a small curve of his lips yet he reckoned it must be the first time Cas must’ve used them to express an emotion.

Flower crown aside. Dean in the screen also looked equally mesmerized, it wasn’t an expression Dean would be familiar to see his own face. Suddenly he saw that stupid little boy watching the fireworks with his brother again. Was that what he looked like staring at Cas? It was disgustingly cheesy, yeah, but Dean couldn’t deny that in these few videos, he appeared younger that he had in past five years. He was the same person, he walked the same, he talked the same… He liked the same dishes, bitched about same problems, there were no denying it was the same person.

He skipped to the next video without finishing it.


	5. Chapter 5

A rather dim room was bought to the screen, however this time it wasn’t Sam holding the cam, it was Dean. The awkward position he held the cam to include himself revealed a top half naked Cas, laid on his front on some kind of a massage table, with Sam sitting next to him looking more excited than he should be.

“Guess what?” Dean said, shifting the camera to capture his face “Cas’ getting a _tattoo.”_ He chuckled and turned it back to Cas, who now had another man leaning over him. The man backed a little to reveal the outlines of the wings sketched on his back.

Cas visibly tensed when the hum of needle filled the room “I can’t believe you talked me into this” he breathed. Dean’s hand, which was on Cas’, gently moved to massage his shoulder “Relax, it’s nothing you haven’t done before.”

“And it was unpleasant both times.”

“Really?” Dean cocked a brow “I thought you enjoyed my handiwork”

“You…” he started but hissed when needle touched his skin “bribed me with sex.”

Dean laughed and moved his hand back to grab Cas’ when the tattooist moved towards the shoulder

“Well I’ll be honest, the tattoo will limit our positions for a while”

Cas groaned, more to Dean’s remark than the pain and Sam put on his usual that-corner-of-the-ceiling-looks-very-interesting-right-now look to hide his distress of the topic

“Hey, look, you lost the bet fair and square”

“It wasn’t ‘fair’ you cheated, multiple times.” He shot back between his breaths

That was it for the first session on wing tattoos and Dean couldn’t find the rest so he gave up and moved on to other folders. ‘Cas Lessons’ consisted of Dean and Sam taking turns to teach Cas how to drive. Which wasn’t half as easy as it sounded because up until the 30th or 35th video Cas was going with 0 m/s and pulling the breaks every time so much of a cat appeared at the far side of the empty parking lot.

He reluctantly went to the ‘Wedding’ folder.

He watched himself, suited up with combed hair came to the screen. He was talking something with someone at the far side of the room but the words were lost in the crowd’s noise. It took him about a minute to notice the camera. “What are you shooting me for?” he asked laughing to the person holding it, whom revealed as Cas when he answered “I like making memories.”

“Yeah, but you should make memories of bride and groom, you know? Their wedding and all.”

“They have not yet arrived.” He stated.

“Then maybe, I don’t know” Dean added sarcastically “preserve the battery until they arrive?”

Camera didn’t move and Dean let out a frustrated groan and started playing with his tie

“You look attractive.” Cas said in a most unattractive voice but it somehow worked

“Dude,” Dean laughed in embarrassment “we should definitely work on your flirting skills.” Then he gulped and gestured towards the camera “you’re not so bad yourself.”

“Sam said you’d like the tie”

“Yeah you should definitely wear it in our... if we…” his voice trailed off as his face became a bright shade of red “…you know…” Dean could practically touch his counterpart’s nervousness through the screen.

“Dean” Cas most likely squinted “are you proposing me marriage?”

Dean cleaned his throat and faced away, scratching the back of his neck in a pitiful attempt to seem unaffected by this whole convo “Well technically I’m ‘proposing’ marriage to whomever is watching this.”

“That’s… unexpected.” Cas replied with a pause and Dean’s face sank, it was clear he took his hesitation as a ‘no’. “Is it really, though? I love you, you are clearly head over heels for me. We had our extended trial run. I mean of course we don’t need to sign a paper to clarify that, hell, we’re already living together… whatever, just forget it…” he babbled on until Cas cut him off “Yes, Dean, I would like to marry with you”

He said it like it was the most normal thing, like Dean was stupid to ever bother asking… But then, Dean couldn’t picture any other reaction, he couldn’t picture him hopping on his feet shouting a big ‘YES’ or saying something completely logical like they should think this through.

When Dean realized he was maybe letting all this freak show get to his head more than he should, he decided it was time to get to the next video and clean his mind of the most cheesily awkward marriage proposal ever.

The video was of minutes later the vows. Castiel was the best man so the duty of holding the camera was passed on to Sam. When witnesses, bride and groom took their place on an extra-fancy table for the feast it was finally time for speeches. One of the bridesmaids, a very cute but a bit too young women, presented hers with various biblical jokes. Dean took note of various supernatural creatures scattered across the table, none particularly dangerous or strong enough to cause real trouble, except from the angels… Then the camera moved to capture Dean elbowing Cas to make his speech. After a minute’s quarrel, Castiel rose with a piece of paper firmly gripped between his almost shaking hands. Who’d have known he had stage fright.

“I think…” he started that his eyes trailed between the camera, Dean and Gadrael and he took a deep breath, started again “When I first came to Earth, with my brothers and sisters… I admired humans devotion, may it be to a deity or to themselves…” he kept holding on to the paper but Dean was pretty sure he already memorized the whole thing “Nevertheless, I looked down on them, for being dependent; weak, mortal. It is odd because us, angels, more than anybody else should know that time is bendable, relative… instead of a straight line between life and death. Amongst them, hairless apes, as we’d preferred to call them,” laugher rose from the crowd “in these past few years, I believe I lived more than I did since I came to existence. I wish for you, brother, to live as full as they do, learn from your bride and partner, Jessica, whom today puts all the angels here and above in shame,” that smooth fucker… Dean thought “And don’t be afraid to be dependent on her, because I think we all know that falling is not nearly as romantic as human literature leads on, it is painful and messy and it is not a weakness to have someone hold your hand through.” He finished. Crowd cheered, Gadrael rose to give his brother a hug, which he returned clumsily. Then couples danced and everybody get drunk and Dean, so fixed on hacking his counterpart’s computer, didn’t notice the door unlocking or Castiel’s footsteps until they abruptly stopped at the threshold of the bedroom.


End file.
